Seven months after federal officials targeted the University of Rochester Laser Lab for closure, Congress appropriated $80 million for the facility this week — its highest level of funding to date.

UR President Richard Feldman called the dramatic turnabout "a seminal moment" in the Laboratory for Laser Energetics' 48-year history. The funding — amounting to a $5 million year-over-year increase, and $12 million over two years — awaits President Donald Trump's signature.

Back in February, a U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration proposed a three-year ramp-down of the lab.

LLE is a smaller counterpart to two government-owned centers in California and New Mexico. The lab employs 350, has 100 students studying and working in some capacity at the River Road facility and routinely draws scientists and researchers from across the country. Its work has both civilian and military applications.

Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, along with the late Rep. Louise Slaughter came to the lab's defense, vowing to reverse the decision, increase funding and secure a long-term cooperative agreement. That last piece remains undone.

“With this funding, I am proud to say that the LLE will continue to serve as the largest university-based U.S. Department of Energy program in the nation and (be) home to the largest and most powerful laser systems found at any academic institution in the entire world,” Feldman said in a news release.